Raid
by Kathryn6
Summary: The first part of a trilogy. Sometimes the worst kind of villans are humans, a lesson that the Charmed Ones are about to learn to their peril as P3 is taken over. Leaving Phoebe and Paige to the mercy of masked gunmen and Piper defendless.
1. Part One

Raid  
  
Disclaimer: If you've heard of them I don't own them.  
  
Part One  
  
Piper was standing behind the bar at P3, glancing over at Phoebe and Paige but not really listening to what her sisters were saying. It was her first night back at P3 since Wyatt had been born and the night had been drifting along at a snail's pace.  
  
Phoebe and Paige were joking around on the other side of the bar. Both were dressed-to-kill with Phoebe in her black leather trousers and skintight red top while Paige was in her little black number. Piper allowed herself a small smile, while Natalie Imbruglia had been on stage performing both had them had been on the dance floor with a couple of different men. Paige having achieved some success for her night's work, she had disappeared into the corner of the club for around an hour and returned with a phone number. Piper shook her head as she smiled, so much for the two of them coming to support her on her first night back.  
  
After Natalie Imbruglia had finished her set around two hours ago and most of the customers had left, Paige having returned to her two older sisters had produced a red A5 side book out of her bag. The two younger sisters had been laughing over it for the last half an hour.  
  
Paige pointed at a passage from the book. Phoebe glanced over her younger sister's shoulder and giggled.  
  
Piper looked up from her watch, "What are you two laughing about?"  
  
"We stole Leo's Whitelighter handbook," Phoebe told her older sister as she flicked through a couple more pages. "And you wouldn't believe some of the stuff in here. 'A Whitelighter must on any incident of indecision report to the Elders.'"  
  
"That's not as bad as the one about unnecessary orbing." Paige laughed as her eyes scanned further down the page. "Or look this one about relationships, 'A Whitelighter must stay professional and unattached at all times.'"  
  
Phoebe smiled as she playfully punched her younger sister's arm, "Yeah, but that means you're screwed on the boyfriend situation. Unattached, no boyfriend, and you my little sister are part Whitelighter!"  
  
"Oh, no, no, I'm more witch. And who says I want a full on boyfriend anyway, I'm only 25!" Paige exclaimed as she shot Phoebe a devilish grin. "Besides we don't worry about those messy little Whitelighter rules, do we Piper? Piper?"  
  
Piper had drifted back to looking at her watch, day dreaming about being home with her husband and infant son and occasionally looking up to count the people that where still in the club. She blinked, looked up and shook her head on hearing her name. "What?"  
  
"Go home, me and Paige can lock up."  
  
"Yeah, Piper, there's like 50 people here. We'll be home in an hour max."  
  
"But I can't!" Piper started to protest.  
  
"Why can't you?" Phoebe asked. "I mean we're perfectly able to look after the club and we all know that you really want to be at home with Leo and Wyatt."  
  
"I know and it's not that I think you can't manage but…"  
  
"Go!" The two younger sister's told Piper in unison.  
  
"Okay, thank you guys," Piper said grabbing her coat and car keys. "Wait how will you two get home?"  
  
Paige hoisted herself over the bar, while holding down her black dress in a pitiful attempt not to expose her underwear and to stop Phoebe laughing at her actions. "I'll break rule 1638 on unnecessary orbing."  
  
"Okay, I'll see you two later then and thank you," Piper said, kissing both of her younger sister's on their foreheads before heading for the door. She turned as she reached the stairs. "Call me at home if you need anything."  
  
"Go!"  
  
Phoebe watched her older sister leave while Paige went and grabbed two bottles of water. As Paige unscrewed the tops of the bottles, Phoebe went back to looking through the blue book that was as thick as her dictionary.  
  
The two sisters slipped back into the jokes over the Whitelighter manual, which Phoebe read out loud while Paige served the odd customer that was occasionally walking up to the bar. Phoebe smiled; she couldn't believe it had taken her five years before she had decided to 'borrow' Leo's guidebook.  
  
Paige glanced over at the doorway and saw the last of the support band leaving. She grabbed their coats from under the bar as she looked at her watch. "It's ten to three."  
  
"Great, ten minutes and then back home to crash."  
  
"Crash? I'm still buzzing from earlier. Do you think it's too late to call that guy and meet up with him?"  
  
"Yeah it's too late and too needy."  
  
"I guess you right." Paige sighed. "I guess I'll just have to find something else to do. Are you up for another club?"  
  
Phoebe smiled at her younger sister. "No, you're so much better than me at this all nighter lark than me."  
  
"I know, you can bow to me…" Paige started to brag to her sister, but her words drying up on hearing booming footsteps on the stairway.  
  
Both Phoebe and Paige's eyes shot to the stairway, to see ten people all wearing black running down the stairs. Each of these people, Phoebe quickly noticed were waving guns. Her eyes widened as she heard one of the guns being fired and stretched out to reach her younger sister's hand dropping the Whitelighter guidebook. Paige's body tensed up as she knocked the blue book into her bag and closed it.  
  
Another gun fired, and the small crowd left in P3 all sunk to the floor.  
  
"If everyone does what I say, there in no reason why people will get hurt." A voice yelled in between a series of gunfire. 


	2. Part Two

Part Two  
  
Mayhem and panic were present on every face. As faces drained to a white paste, fear took over from panic as the guns fired again.  
  
A man in his late twenties with light blond hair grabbed his girlfriend's hand. He squeezed her hand and smiled at her. The girl who was in her early twenties shot him back a small smile and nodded. Within a split second the pair darted towards the stairs and the door, and as if in slow motion a gunman raised his weapon.  
  
As two shots where fired, Phoebe tightened her grip on her younger sister's hand as she turned her head as the two young twenty-something year olds fell back down the stairs. Paige closed her eyes and screwed them up so tightly that she almost gave herself a headache through the force to keep her eyes closed.  
  
"Now will everyone listen to me? We are not here to mess around. Now who's in charge here?"  
  
Paige looked over at her older sister and thoughts ran wildly through her mind. Phoebe had been through too much in the last year to deal with and if the worse came to the worst, she could always orb out of there. She took one last glance over at the person who so far had been the only one to talk.  
  
She took in a deep breath, "I am. It's my sisters club."  
  
Phoebe's eyes widened as she heard Paige's words. She looked at the figure that was approaching Paige and aiming the gun at her younger sister's head. She was not going to let Paige take the responsibility for all this, who knew what these people would do to her.  
  
"Paige!" she gasped in shock.  
  
"It's okay Pheebs. I can deal with it."  
  
"No, no, it's not," Phoebe told her younger sister as she turned to the person who seemed to be in charge of the mob. "I'm in charge too."  
  
"You didn't need to say that, I could have sorted it."  
  
"I'm not leaving you alone with them."  
  
"Be quiet!" The voice boomed after another gunshot fired into the air and started gesturing to his followers. "You two take them both into the back. You get the police on the phone. You find someone to keep me company and the rest of you can keep an eye on everyone else while I have a drink."  
  
Phoebe looked over her shoulder as she felt a gun being forced into the base of her back. The people that were left in P3 were being herded onto the dance floor and being forced to sit with their hands on their heads. She forced herself to hold back a shudder as she walked towards the back room.  
  
With the gun being aimed towards her head, Paige did not hesitate when she was told to open the safe. Nor did she show any sign of emotion when she was made to move into the back. The first time her face revealed any form of emotion was when she saw Phoebe open the safe.  
  
The gun still in the bone of her back, Phoebe opened the safe as quickly as she could. Her fingers were reacting slowly and clumsy as her body was shaking from the inside and a chill ran through her body.  
  
Paige's face stayed fixed on her older sister as she was forced to sit down next to her captor. Her eyes moved from watching Phoebe briefly as she bit her lip, feeling his one of hands trail up her leg with the other hand staying firmly fixed on the gun.  
  
* * *  
  
Piper was sitting in the nursery watching both her sleeping son and her watch. It normally relaxed her to watch Wyatt in such a restful and peaceful state, but it was not working tonight. Tonight something did not feel right. She'd had this feeling of guilt since she had left the club and the more time that evaporated the feeling of guilt was changing to one of worry.  
  
Leo rolled over in the double bed, waking as his hand hit the soft mattress. He rubbed his eyes and looked to the nursery. Making out a blurred vision of his wife through sleep-deprived eyes, he grabbed a T- shirt from the side. Yawning and whipping his eyes, Leo made his way over to the cot.  
  
"Is he awake?" Leo whispered through another yawn.  
  
"No, he's sleeping like an angel."  
  
"Well come back to bed then, let's make the most of it."  
  
"I can't sleep," Piper explained.  
  
Leo sat down next to his wife and wrapped a strong arm around her shoulder. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"  
  
"I can't explain it," she started glancing up into her husband's eyes. "It just feels like something is not quite right. And I haven't heard Phoebe and Paige come home yet."  
  
"Piper, honey, everything is probably…"  
  
"Fine, yeah I know. But I'm not going to get any rest until I know for sure," Piper told her husband. "So could you just check for me, try and sense them?"  
  
Leo smiled at his wife before closing his eyes. "They're at P3, probably tidying up for the morning or something. I bet they'll be home any minute. Can we go back to bed now, until he wakes us." 


	3. Part Three

Part Three  
  
Phoebe's hand was shaking as she handed the money over to the masked man with the gun. She was used to dealing with demons everyday but knowing these were humans made everything so much worse. They couldn't use their powers on mortals and even though the guns were terrifying her she would just have to see this out.  
  
She looked over at her younger sister and the masked man sitting next to her. She could tell Paige was putting on a brave face through it all, she knew her too well to know that this all was an act. Phoebe's eyes drifted down to the hand that was on her sister's leg and then up to the gun and Paige's face.  
  
Paige caught her older sister's eye and shook her head. She was not going to let Phoebe get shot because some idiot had decided to grope her leg. Instead she closed her eyes and tried to focus on something else, anything that would work as a distraction.  
  
Phoebe was in shock and admiration of her younger sister. Had it been her in Paige's position she would have flung a fist into his face like lightening. But she knew Paige was doing what she thought would protect the two of them, what would stop the guns from firing.  
  
Paige kept her eyes screwed up, trying to concentrate on other things. Planning her day tomorrow, making a mental shopping list in her brain. While she could feel his hand only on her thigh, she had a strange feeling that she had some kind of control. The thoughts were broken as his hand was removed and she felt her captor stand up.  
  
"Take the cash to Mac," said the figure that had been standing next to Phoebe, "and I'll check the draws and keep an eye on this two."  
  
Paige opened her eyes to see the man that had been sitting next to her leave and Phoebe gestured her over to the sofa. Paige felt a huge sense of relief rush through her body.  
  
Phoebe wrapped her arms around her little sister. On touching Paige's still body she could feel a tension that was slowly become more relaxed. "You okay?"  
  
"Yeah," came Paige's tense and forced reply. "I mean it's going to be over in a bit."  
  
"'Cause it is. They've got the money, so they'll leave anything now."  
  
"And then we can just get everyone out here."  
  
"Exactly, it'll just be like a bad dream," Phoebe agreed as she rubbed her younger sister's back before her body started to tense up. "Er, Paige, about just then, it's just, well…"  
  
"Forget it," Paige cut in. "If you'd have done anything, he might of shot you, and he didn't actually hurt me."  
  
Phoebe briefly smiled, "I love you."  
  
"You know that's the first time you've ever said that to me," Paige replied with a smile that was growing, "I love you as well."  
  
"How touching." Came a husky voice from the door.  
  
Both Phoebe and Paige turned their heads to look at the figure. Phoebe's mouth dropped a little and a chill ran down Paige's back as the saw the man's face since he removed his mask.  
  
* * *  
  
Inside the actual bar, people were on the floor with their hands on their head. The chaos of earlier had changed into a false calm. The same panic and fear had disappeared from rash movements into stricken looks on all faces.  
  
The chilling atmosphere was only further added to as the man who seemed to be the leader picked up the phone.  
  
"Police,… I'm at P3 nightclub and have 31 female and 18 male hostages… I want a million pounds and a helicopter within the next hour. I am not bluffing and am more than willing to kill one hostage for every ten minutes you're late!" 


	4. Part Four

Part Four  
  
Darryl sat in his car outside the Halliwell manor. He was in a pair of old faded jeans and his university sweater, which was now slightly tight around his waist. Those had been clothes lying on a chair, where he had flung them after playing catch with his four-year son earlier. After getting the call from the station he had grabbed the nearest clothes and his car keys.  
  
That call had come from the station saying that P3 was under siege and with his friendship to the Halliwells, he might be the best one to break the news. He had jumped out of bed the instant he had put the phone down, said a hurried goodbye to Shelia and almost sprinted to the car, but after a rushed approach to Prescott street, he'd spent the last ten minutes just looking at the house.  
  
How did he tell Piper that her club was subject to a raid with almost fifty hostages being held some of which would be her staff.  
  
Darryl stood at the door for another good ten minutes before Leo appeared at the door in boxer shorts and a t-shirt. On seeing Darryl on the doorstep he quickly ushered him inside.  
  
"I take it this is not a personal call," Leo said as he glanced at the clock.  
  
"No, you better get the girls," Darryl told him as he followed Leo to the living room.  
  
"I'll go and get Piper, but Phoebe and Paige are still out," Leo explained as he headed towards the stairs.  
  
Darryl gulped, "Not at P3?"  
  
"Yeah, they closed up for Piper tonight."  
  
"Leo hurry and get Piper, and I'll, I'll make us some coffee unless you've got anything stronger."  
  
"Has something happened to them?"  
  
"You need to get Piper, now."  
  
* * *  
  
Phoebe looked at her younger sister and then back to the man who was now wearing his mask as a hat. She kept one hand firmly in a protective grasp on Paige's waist.  
  
Paige gently started to push her dress down, staring at the man who was approaching her.  
  
"Didn't he just give you his number?" Phoebe asked in a whisper.  
  
Paige nodded and fixed her stare on the man. "Can you answer me something Mike? Were you with me all night just to learn when the club was going to close and who was going to be here?"  
  
"Don't be so naive, Paige," Mike told her with a smile, "Now you were interested in me a couple hours ago and I'm bored now since we've got an hour to wait."  
  
"Woah, don't even…" Phoebe started.  
  
Mike glanced over at the second gunman who was over at the desk. "Could you get her out of here man, and give us some time?"  
  
* * *  
  
Piper was walking up and down in the living room with her arms on her hips, while Leo and Darryl sat down watching her pace. Darryl handed Leo a mug of coffee while they waited for Piper to stop moving.  
  
She stopped and looked at the two men before her, "What's happened to my sisters?"  
  
"Well, nothing, nothing are far as we know, I mean they are okay."  
  
"Darryl would you get to the point already."  
  
"There's been a raid at P3 and they are holding around 50 hostages and since Phoebe and Paige aren't home it looks like they're in there," Darryl explained at a quick pace. "I'm so sorry, they thought it was best coming from me."  
  
Piper stood there for a few minutes as she digested what she had just been told. Slowly she opened her mouth to speak. "Well, we can fix that right? I mean we can just orb in there, sort these sons of bitches out and get Phoebe and Paige home. I mean that shouldn't be to hard, 'cause we've got magic on our side, and we just can't, can't let anything happen to them."  
  
Leo wrapped his arms around his wife and wiped her tears. Her rant had just turned into hysterics. "Piper, honey," he whispered gently in her ear. "Neither of them will let anyone push them around and I'm sure the police are going to do everything they can."  
  
Piper looked up at his husband before pushing his embrace away. "What do you mean the police, just orb in there and get them?"  
  
"Honey, this isn't magical."  
  
"What do you mean this isn't magical. You orb your whitelighter arse 'up there' and make this magical!"  
  
* * *  
  
Paige stared hopelessly as her older sister was led away with a gun in her back. Noticing Phoebe steal a glance over her shoulder, she tried to offer an encouraging smile to her older sister as she mouthed, 'Go it will be okay, I don't want you get hurt.'  
  
Phoebe physically felt herself being pushed out of the room as the gun was pressing into the lower part of her back.  
  
"It's not worth it, he's a psycho." She heard the man behind her say before hearing the door slam and lock. "If your sister just keeps her mouth shut she'll be okay."  
  
On the other side of the door, Paige had walked towards the far wall in a feeble attempt to keep as much distance as she could from Mike. Mike just shot her a grin that was filled with pure evil.  
  
"What's the matter Paige? You wanted to be left alone with me earlier. And you don't want big sister to get hurt, do you? You know these triggers can be awfully tricky, I mean your hand can just slip."  
  
Paige gulped and drew in as much courage as she could. "Don't you even think about hurting her!"  
  
"Don't worry about her, it's you I've wanted all night." 


	5. Part Five

Part Five  
  
Phoebe was torn between keeping her eyes and ears on the door to the office and the phone call that was going on just a stone's throw away from her. The door looked so large and cemented that blocked her from her baby sister at the very time she needed to be there for her. The physical block was also intensifying the situation further and sending Phoebe's mind into overdrive as she could hear a disjointed argument and crashing noises from in the room.  
  
On Phoebe's other side there was a phone call taking place that was the count down to the hour's time limit. She looked down at her watch. There was less than five minutes to go and no sign that any of the demands had been meet.  
  
"Where's my money!" Phoebe heard being bellowed down the phone. "I said you had an hour to get it here! Where's by money!"  
  
She tore her eyes away from the door and looked at the people sitting on the floor. Further panic set through her brain as she glanced over at the man on the phone. Would he really carry through with his treat and shoot someone? Phoebe bit her lip, yes he probably would. They had shown no mercy so far, killed two people for no reason and had her little sister locked in a room with what could only be called a psychopath.  
  
As Phoebe moved her hand to her mouth she noticed that it was visibly shaking and her throat had dried up. Apart from her eyes that were actively running between the closed door, the person on the phone and the customers on the dance floor, her body had tensed up.  
  
Phoebe shuddered as she heard her little sister's cry followed by a gunshot.  
  
* * *  
  
Piper was pacing up and down the living room, her frantic steps threatening to wear a hole into the carpet. She didn't know what else to do, she felt so defenceless. She had screamed at the ceiling, punched the sofa in a mad rage and sent Leo up to the Elders that he returned from.  
  
She stood still for a minute as her eye caught the photo on the wall. What was happening to her sisters, it was the unknowing that was making it worse. She didn't care what Darryl had said about the group not wanting to lose the hostages they had. Piper gulped, they did not need all the hostages to keep a bargaining point; they just needed one or two.  
  
Sinking to a seat she looked at Darryl, who had said that he would stay for as long as they wanted him there. He wanted, no needed to do something.  
  
"How often does this happen?" Piper asked dryly.  
  
"Not much,"  
  
"So why at P3?"  
  
Darryl shook his head, "I wish I knew, I wish I could do something more, could have stopped it happening. It just makes you feel so powerless."  
  
"I just can't believe it all," Piper started her reply relatively calmly looking at her friend as she continued starting to lose some of her composure. "I'm meant to be this all powerful witch and I can't stop some stupid burglars. I mean we kill demons everyday, but come under threat from some losers who can't even be bothered to get themselves jobs."  
  
"You are a powerful witch, and so are Phoebe and Paige. They won't let anything happen to them," Darryl told her with a confidence in his voice that sounded unnatural.  
  
Piper moved her hands up to her face and ran them over her nose before keeping eye contact with the Lieutenant as she spoke. "That doesn't stop guns, we're just as hopeless faced with them and neither Phoebe or Paige will risk using their powers in case that it causes repercussions on the others in there. That leaves them open to attack, after all the evil we've fought, I've never felt so scared and powerless. I just could not lose them, I mean I've never even told Paige I love her."  
  
"She knows that and you can tell her later because I promise you that we'll get them out of there," Darryl told her firmly.  
  
* * *  
  
Phoebe jumped to her feet after hearing Paige's scream. She felt an urgent need to get to that door and open it somehow. But as suddenly as she had jumped to her feet she felt her knees almost crush and collapse as she was pushed back down.  
  
A chill ran through her body as she listened to the whisper in her ear. "I told you he's a psycho and there's nothing you can do. Don't put yourself in danger."  
  
Phoebe looked up as the man removed the mask, revealing a man whose grave face was looking much older than his thirty-something years. "But that's my sister! I can't just sit here."  
  
"Look things here are about to get very nasty, you need to keep your head clear," the man explained, pulling his mask back down. "He won't kill your sister, if he does he won't get what he wants. So you need to stay strong and look after number one at the moment, because what use will you be to her otherwise."  
  
"Still I can't just sit here doing nothing."  
  
"You've got to trust me, I'm the only chance both you and your sister has. Nothing is going to happen to you if you keep your head clear and your sister will be okay."  
  
Phoebe weakly nodded in submission as she kept her eyes fixed on the door, which since Paige's last scream had happened had created an unnatural silence around.  
  
At the other end of the bar, the atmosphere was far from silent as when the hour had been completed the person that had been on the phone was furious. He rounded the bar muttering to himself as he made his way to the dance floor and pulled a man to his feet.  
  
The man who appeared to be in his late twenties was shaking and sweating as he looked at the gun.  
  
"I want you to go out there and tell them two are dead in here and this is no time for negotiation. I'm not messing around. Unless I get my money, the next person will be coming out of here in a body-bag."  
  
The man looked once more for the briefest millisecond before running as fast he could to the stairs. Once he had arrived at the stairs a scream sounded in the club as a bullet hit his left leg just below the knee. He fell back down a couple of stairs, before making his way to his feet in a slow clumsily fashion as if it was the first time he had every used them.  
  
"Take them that as well,… now go,… well what are you waiting for?" 


	6. Part Six

Part Six  
  
Minutes afterwards the door flung open to the office in P3. Mike strolled out of the room with a backwards glance as he gestured to the door with a casual flick of his arm. He let a grin grow on his face as he spoke.  
  
"Someone better sort out the spoiled goods in there."  
  
The man who had been talking to Phoebe earlier looked and him and let out a sigh. "Have you finished having your fun, now? Are you ready to get down with the work and what we came for?"  
  
"Yeah I'm done," he replied twisting the gun in his hands. "And I'm definitely up for the messy part now!"  
  
"Well let's send her sister in, it will leave us free to do what we want and keep them both out of the way."  
  
The man who had been in with Paige up until a couple of minutes ago, paused for a second eying up Phoebe. "Wait, can I have her as well?"  
  
"We've got work to do!" The masked man told Mike as he put his arm down on Phoebe's shoulder and whispered into her ear, "Go, and remember what I said about being strong for her."  
  
Phoebe shook as she got to her feet as if she was learning to walk for the first time and did not know how to use her legs. It took her a couple of seconds to make her first step, but once realising that she could move she burst towards the door.  
  
Once she had got to the door, she halted not sure of what to do as she grasped the door and scanned the room. Her confident younger sister who she had never seen anyone close to hurting was crumbled in a corner of the room.  
  
All the qualities that made Paige, well Paige, strong, respected and fun, were missing. Disappeared into thin air in the space of forty minutes. Her smile, the glow in her eyes even her normal air that surrounded her seemed to have evaporated. Instead of the Paige that Phoebe knew and loved, there was a young girl who looked barely old enough to be in the club, staring blankly at a wall while hugging her knees.  
  
Phoebe edged closer into the room, she could not even start to imagine what her baby sister had just gone through, nor did she want to. She needed to see something that showed that Paige was still her usual self and would be okay. She needed to see her turn and flash her a grin, see the same Paige that had hoisted herself over the bar and spent half the evening earlier on the dance floor.  
  
Yet in her own way, this Paige was just as strong as the little sister who had tried to protect her earlier in the evening when these thugs entered. The same Paige, the same baby sister, whom she loved. She was holding onto her sobs through red eyes and not showing any sign of pain concerning her bleeding shoulder. Ignoring the blood as it trickled down her soft pale skin.  
  
Phoebe slapped herself in the face and rushed over to her sister. What had she been doing just standing there and doing nothing for her baby sister when her body was screaming about how much pain she was in? The elder Halliwell knelt down and touched Paige's back in a gentle fashion.  
  
The second Phoebe hand touched Paige's body she was jolted into a premonition.  
  
"You saw it," Paige shuddered. "You shouldn't have touched me, I don't want you to see it."  
  
"Ah, honey," Phoebe started reaching her hand forward to rub her younger sister's back.  
  
Paige shuffled forward, as she spoke in a voice that was loaded with both emotion and determination. "Don't touch me again, you can't, you'll see it all again."  
  
"Look, sweetie, I can handle all the premonitions it throws at me. You're my baby sister and I love you, you don't need to go through this alone," Phoebe explained as she changed her position to look into sisters tear inflamed eyes. "Paige listen to me, you've got sisters and there's no need for you to put up a wall and be strong for us. We want to see and help you with everything, you don't have to go through this alone."  
  
"But I have to."  
  
"No, no you don't, you don't have to do anything, not without help anyway."  
  
"But, I, I just can't let you or Piper see this," Paige tried to explain as her voice was gritted with a forced determination. "I can't let you get hurt."  
  
"We'd be more hurt if you don't let us in," Phoebe told her younger sister. "Look, we're sisters and sisters are there for each other no matter what. And that means that we're going to stick to you like glue whether you want us there or not. Like you've done before for me and Piper."  
  
"That was different."  
  
"How?"  
  
Paige's voice seemed to have dried up. "I don't know."  
  
"Well until you can think of a damn good reason to force me away and that's not going to be easy, you're stuck with me, missy."  
  
Phoebe wrapped her arms tightly around her little sister, trying to ignore the repetitive premonitions that kept hitting her. Slowly as the minutes started to pass Phoebe felt the tension in Paige's body start to disappear as she allowed herself to rest her head on her big sister's shoulder and the tears start to emerge.  
  
Glancing at her little sister's body as she stroked Paige hair, Phoebe made a promise to herself. Some day, somehow, she would get revenge on the person that had done this to her baby sister.  
  
* * *  
  
Piper unleashed her crossed arms as she looked at Darryl; somehow his face and mannerism were softer than normal. The same concern that was clearly evident in the oldest Halliwell was written all over Darryl's face.  
  
Neither of them had spoke for the last half an hour as they just felt a need to have someone by.  
  
Bright orbs broke the tension that had mounted between the two friends. This was only to be dashed seconds later as soon as Leo's face appeared clearly. Both sets of eyes looked hopelessly as the Whitelighter shook his head.  
  
"It's mortal!"  
  
"What do you mean its mortal?" Piper asked, jumping to her feet.  
  
"They won't let us do anything, well anything magical at least, to stop it," Leo tried to explain to his wife, who was fuming. "They say that would be entering personal gain arena."  
  
"Personal Gain! Personal Gain! I'll give those useless holier than thou Elders, personal gain. I mean are they just going to let my sisters get hurt?!" Piper yelled to the ceiling. "Don't these idiots realise that if either Phoebe or Paige are hurt that puts an end to their precious Charmed Ones!"  
  
Leo shuddered as he started to give Piper the Elder's answer. "They, well, they say it's character building."  
  
"Character building! Character building!" Piper exclaimed in disbelief. "If you want your son to grow up with a father, you're going to orb me up there, right now. I'll give them bloody character building!"  
  
"Piper,"  
  
"Don't you Piper me, we're going." 


	7. Part Seven

Part Seven  
  
Darryl sat in his car outside P3. When Leo had orbed his wife and infant son 'up there' he had promised Piper that he would keep an eye on things at the club. He had felt hopeless at the manor, where he hadn't been able to make a difference. And although this was not much better in sitting outside of P3, at least here he felt that he was close to the news. Giving him almost a small sense of power over one thing, in the fact that he could call Piper's cell phone the minute something happened that directly affected the younger Halliwells.  
  
Darryl tore his eyes off the club as he opened his wallet, flicking through the pictures of his wife and children. He would not be able to bear anything that could happen to any of them. Yet, Piper and her sisters faced the risk of something happening to them everyday. Looking at a picture of two boys, he marvelled how the Halliwells did this. Putting their lives at risk, when it would be so easy to pull away from that life to protect each other.  
  
Closing the wallet, he allowed himself a brief smile. These men did not know what they were up against. Phoebe and Paige were two of the most spirited and resolute women that he had ever had the privilege to meet and he was truly honoured to them his friends. Darryl's smile grew a little more as he thought about how these men had truly bitten off more than they could chew.  
  
Yet as he looked at the club through his car window, he realised Piper had been right earlier. As great as the charmed ones were, Phoebe and Paige would be as vulnerable to attack in the under siege club as any other person would me. His body shuddered as he thought of his two friends as purely mortal, normal like everyone else, who could be hurt in the same way.  
  
He shook his head, trying to think of them as superhero-type figures that could get out of any situation that was thrown at them. This was so much easier than seeing them as vulnerable women who were being held at gunpoint and little could be done to help them.  
  
Darryl flung open the door and walked towards the club and the police that surrounded it. He was going to make sure they stayed superheros and did not become victims of some power hunger attempt at grabbing money.  
  
He touched the shoulder of the nearest police officer, "Any news?"  
  
"We are still trying to get in there."  
  
"And the ransom amount?"  
  
"It's in that car to be used as a last resort."  
  
"You mean we have it here now and we aren't sending it in there?" Darryl exclaimed in disbelief. "There are innocent lives at risk for ever minute longer we wait."  
  
"Lieutenant, you know as well as us that it's too risky to send the money in without any sign of good faith that he will release the hostages," the officer started to explain before he was interrupted.  
  
"The Lieutenant has a personal involvement here," a voice said, as the two members of the police turned to see their captain. "You should go home Darryl, be with your family, with Piper Halliwell and we'll let you know the second anything happens."  
  
"If you don't mind sir, I'd like to stay here."  
  
"Okay, I understand," the captain replied, "I'd feel the same if it was my friends in there. But I'm going to have to ask you to stay in the background and leave to the decisions to the rest of us that are not attached to the individuals involved in this."  
  
* * *  
  
Phoebe kept her hand on Paige's back as she glanced towards the door and into the main part of the club. Scanning the dance floor and the bar area with quick glances through the open door and then at her watch. How long would it be before the guns were lifted again and how much longer could her baby sister just sit here without any form of help?  
  
As she kissed Paige on her forehead, she realised that someone had to do something and soon.  
  
"Paige?" Came a whispered voice.  
  
Paige jolted her head to look at her older sister. "Yeah?"  
  
"Will you be okay for ten minutes?" Phoebe asked as she moved her head from her younger sister back.  
  
"Why?" Paige completely turned around to look at the elder Halliwell, with a slight look of disbelief that her eyes failed to hide. "What are you thinking about doing?"  
  
"I'm going to put a stop to this!"  
  
Paige violently shook her head at this statement. "No, no, you can't. They'll hurt you."  
  
"I'll be okay I promise," Phoebe soothed, as she tipped Paige head to look directly in her younger sisters tear-stained eyes. "But someone has to do something."  
  
"What about the police?"  
  
"Well, they've not done much so far," Phoebe reasoned as she started to scan P3 again. "We can't just stay in her to their mercy, or lack of it. Do you understand?"  
  
Paige weakly nodded, "Be careful."  
  
"I will be." Phoebe smiled, "I'll see you in ten minutes." 


	8. Part Eight

Part Eight  
  
Piper looked around the white pillars and grasped tightly to her young son who was sleeping calmly in her arms, unaware of everything that was going on around him. The eldest Halliwell kissed her son's forehead and waited for her husband to return from talking directly to the Elders.  
  
Although she had only been standing there for a matter of minutes, Piper would swear it had been hours. With her body tensed, every second was drawn out with her only relief in Wyatt's innocent face. With a baby so pure and innocent that had been born against all the odds, showed that despite what was happening in P3, there was some good happening in her life. And this good had to be transformed in some form into her sisters.  
  
Leo appeared wearing his cream-coloured Whitelighter robes. He pulled the hood down in order to look at his wife.  
  
"They've agreed to see us."  
  
"Damn right they've agreed," Piper muttered under her breath.  
  
Piper followed her husband through golden corridors and into a silver chamber. She had to physically close her mouth as she entered the chamber, at the impressive state of the room. The cloud-like white pillars were the background a long silver table that seated seven elders wearing golden robes and seated on silver chairs that had the legs of a sofa that was twisted into a melted metal and the back similar to a throne.  
  
"Ms. Halliwell," the elder in the centre of the table said clearing his voice. "We will hear your case."  
  
"My case," Piper started as she shook in head in mild disbelief. "How can you just refer to this as a 'case'?"  
  
Leo coughed softly, "Piper"  
  
"Fine," she said as she handed Wyatt to his father. "My case is very simple, I've not thought much of your rules in the past and I'll be damned if I'm losing another sister or even let them get hurt. So if you refuse to help Phoebe and Paige out of this situation then I'll do it myself."  
  
"Ms. Halliwell, I can assure that we are monitoring the situation as we speak and find no need for interference as neither of your sisters have been physically harmed."  
  
"What do you mean physically?" Piper asked as she switched her looks in between the council of Elders and her husband. "Leo, what the hell is 'physically' code for? How have they been hurt?"  
  
"I don't know, honey."  
  
Piper let out an exasperated sigh as she raised her arms in the air. "Okay, put it this way. If I find that they have been hurt in anyway what so ever and you have not let help in there, I quit."  
  
"Ms. Halliwell, you can't quit being a Charmed One, it's your destiny."  
  
"Screw my destiny."  
  
Leo let out another small cough, "Piper."  
  
"What did I say about Pipering me!" Piper started, staring at her husband. "You either let us help them or the Charmed Ones are finished!"  
  
Leo looked at his wife trying to calm her down and stop her from saying something that she might regret. Piper was furiously stared at her husband while the Elders entered a muttered discussion that took place very quickly.  
  
Piper successful managed to get Leo to stop hushing her as she turned to the Elders, "Well?"  
  
"As I'm sure you understand, Ms. Halliwell, the Charmed Ones are very important to us, nevertheless in order to keep order we must be seen to work between set rules and guidelines. For this reason, you must understand that this help which we will be allowing you is an exception," the head elder stated as he walked to the end of the table and broke a piece of it, by sending lighting out of his fingers. He handed this to Piper. "This will allow you to see what is happening to Ms. Halliwell and Ms. Matthews, you will also be granted permission without the risk of personal gain consequences to heal all physical injuries."  
  
* * *  
  
Phoebe tightened her grip on the fire extinguisher with only one thought on her mind, she had to knock out the guy who had been giving out the orders. If she could knock him unconscious then hopefully the masked intruders would lose all control and in the disarray she would be able to get Paige and the innocents out of the club.  
  
Slowly she worked her way along the blind side of the bar, trying to keep her cool and belief as the tension was talking over her body and her mouth had dried up.  
  
Noticing her opportunity Phoebe quickly rose to her feet and brought the fire extinguisher crashing down on his head. She felt a fleeting moment of triumph as she saw the leader collapse to the floor, only for this to be dashed as she felt herself crumble to her knees as she lost feeling in left leg. Phoebe reached her hand down her side to massage her side and felt fresh blood flow through her fingers. 


	9. Part Nine

Part Nine  
  
Phoebe kept grasping onto her side, trying to put pressure on the wound and stop the blood from streaming out of her body. Using the other hand she pulled herself closer to the bar to try and support herself and grab her jacket that was placed next to alcohol bottles. She let go of her wound to rip off the sleeve of her jacket and tie the loose fabric next to her bleeding hip.  
  
While tending to her injury, she tried to listen to the conversation that was taking place around her. She was trying to work out the best chance to move again, in the disorder that was evolving since the lead figure of the group had been knocked unconscious.  
  
Phoebe heard the guy that had been talking to her earlier arguing with Mike as they seem to be taking control.  
  
"Man, you're crazy to even think about letting people out!" Mike told him still playing with his gun between his fingers. "They're our bargaining point."  
  
"Yeah, but if we don't show any sign of good faith, they're never going to give us any money."  
  
"And how's that gonna help?"  
  
"Look, man," he started, resting his hand on his own gun. "If we let anyone with injuries then they are more likely to send the money in, otherwise they're not going to pay man, or they would have done it already."  
  
Mike rested the gun tip at his mouth, "I get to keep the red-head, right?"  
  
* * *  
  
Piper ran over to Darryl as soon she arrived at the street next to P3. She looked at her friends face as she tried to read his expression while scanning the scene. Her eyes widened as she saw the club doors opening.  
  
"What's happening?"  
  
"They're letting anyone with injuries out in exchange for some of the cash," Darryl explained.  
  
Piper kept her eyes fixed on the door, "Do you know if there's anything serious? Do you know anything about Phoebe and Paige?"  
  
"We'll know in a second."  
  
As the door opened and people started to come out, Darryl and Leo, who was holding Wyatt in one arm, both placed a hand on Piper's shoulders holding her back. She pulled away as her mouth dropped and her younger sister hobbled out.  
  
"Phoebe..."  
  
It took Piper a matter of seconds to break away from her husband and the Lieutenant as she pulled away to run over to her sister. The elder Halliwell grabbed Phoebe arm and help her over to Darryl car.  
  
Piper scanned her younger sisters injuries and made a quick calculation that she should be okay. Once Phoebe was seated in the car, Piper pulled her coat off and swapped it with the blood ridden material that was attached to Phoebe's side.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
Phoebe nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"What are you two going to do next time to get attention? Seriously what happened in there? Where's Paige?" Piper asked, realising that only Phoebe had come out the now closed club door. "Leo, get over here!"  
  
"Paige," Phoebe started as she looked at her older sister in the eyes. "We need to get back in there to Paige."  
  
* * *  
  
Paige made her way to the door behind the office and the rest of the club. She stood in the shadows shaking as she saw Phoebe focused out of the club. Glancing to the floor she noticed the blood that had soaked in.  
  
She scanned the room to look at the level of disorder, maybe Phoebe had been right and they needed to take action.  
  
"Gun," she whispered.  
  
Paige looked at the gun in her and walked out of the office. She slowly raised it as she tried to come with the feel of it in her hands and pointed it at Mike.  
  
"I think we've messed around enough in here!"  
  
A series of eyes turned to look at the youngest Charmed One and almost straight away nine guns were aimed towards her. 


	10. Part Ten

Part Ten  
  
Paige felt her body visibly shaking as she kept a firm hold on the gun through her outstretched arms. She gulped as she knew all she need to do was to keep her nerve, if she did she walked out of there and if not she was dead or back in the office with Mike. The youngest Charmed One tightens her grip on the gun and attempted to open her mouth.  
  
Slowly Paige gulped and attempted to hold her fear inside her and stared Mike straight in the eyes. He looked different without the intimating atmosphere of being locked in the office of the gun. As he lost the over- bearing personality, Paige's confidence started to grow.  
  
"Okay shoot me," Paige started, while she still had her thin layer of confidence. "You see I really don't care anymore, but I don't think you guys want to lose you're lives. You see after what you guys did do me and with you already shooting at my sister that was a real bad move. 'Cause with her in here, I wasn't going to give you a reason to hurt her. So you tell me what have I got to lose?"  
  
Mike laughed, "Put the guy down, Paige."  
  
"I'm not kidding," Paige explained as she fired the gun into the air, holding the tears back as she spoke through a tense focused voice. "I've told you, I've nothing to lose anymore."  
  
"I think you should listen to her man, look at her face."  
  
"Shut up and leave it to me," Mike explained as he walked over to her, speaking as he raised his hand to stroke his would-be victims face. "Paige, sweetie, don't be…"  
  
Mike was cut off in mid sentence as Paige raised her knee to his groin and watched with satisfaction to see him fall to the floor. "I told you there's been a enough messing around, get the police in here."  
  
The events happened in a matter of seconds, similar to when the club had become witness to the raid what had seen such a long time ago. A quick phone call was made, followed by the club door being flung open.  
  
Paige kept her hold on the gun until she saw the police enter the club. On seeing the men in uniform charged down the stairs her arms weaken again as the reality of the situation dawned on her. She sank to her knees and her eyes begin to well again as she saw Darryl sprint over to her.  
  
Darryl wrapped his arm around his young friend; "Let's get you out of here."  
  
"Thanks," she struggled to say through a dried voice.  
  
"Don't thank me, it looks like you did all the work."  
  
Paige wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tightly as if holding on the friend was central to her very survival. Darryl feeling the young Halliwell fear and utter exhaustion carried her up the stairs and out of the club to her older sisters.  
  
"I've got the hero here."  
  
As if in a blur both Piper and Phoebe rushed over to her baby sister. Shaking Paige started to feel a sense of relief as she saw her older sisters and felt Piper arms engulf her.  
  
"You okay?" Piper asked, her little sister. Her voice was shaking as she spoke, unable to believe what she was seeing.  
  
Paige drew her remaining strength to nod and shuddered, "But I just wanna go home."  
  
"Okay, Pheebs can you go and call Leo and get him here?" Piper watched as Phoebe disappeared into the next street and then looked back at her baby sister. She looked straight into Paige tear-filled eyes, "You were amazing in there, but next time you just orb out, screw the consequences."  
  
Paige glanced at the club, "I couldn't let others get hurt."  
  
"I know," Piper soothed, "But right now you're the only one I care about."  
  
* * *  
  
The morning and day that followed was full of tension and an unnatural air filled the house. The hours that had pasted since they had left the club in the early hours of the morning had been filled with unease and a false silence in the air.  
  
The paths that the Charmed Ones had taken since the night's events had been very different.  
  
Paige had disappeared upstairs into her room, unable and unwilling to talk about what had happened in P3. She had sent the first few hours trying to sleep and block things out of her mind in a feeble attempt to stop the tears from following.  
  
Phoebe had attempted to carry on as normal and Piper had found herself wandering around the hour in a daze.  
  
At about eleven o'clock, the middle Halliwell hung up the phone in the hallway and looked at the stairs in which her older sister was climbing down with a full tray of food. Piper glanced at her younger sister and shaking her head, she raised her eyes to the phone that Phoebe had just placed back down.  
  
"Who was that?"  
  
"Darryl," Phoebe replied looking at the phone, "He wanted to check how things are going."  
  
Piper sighed, "Not the best question to ask."  
  
"No. Is Paige still sleeping?"  
  
"Yeah, those sleeping pills really knocked her out and I think it best to rest as much as she can," Piper said, glancing down at the food. "How are you holding up?"  
  
"Nothing really happened to me, so you've…" Phoebe started but was interrupted with a scream from upstairs.  
  
Piper dropped the tray as the older two Halliwells darted up the stairs and into Paige's room. They saw their baby sister shaking and sweating on her bed, gripping her covers tightly to her body as if they offered some form of protection.  
  
"I saw him."  
  
Piper rushed over sat on the edge of Paige's bed while Phoebe stayed standing at the door. Piper reached over to rub Paige's back as she spoke, "It's only a dream, it will be okay."  
  
Paige edged away from her sister, "No, it's not, it all just happened."  
  
Piper looked hopeless over to the doorway and Phoebe.  
  
Fin  
  
After Note  
  
: This is the first of a trilogy and it will be followed by both Recovering and Revenge. 


End file.
